My Pre-Race ‘What The Heck’ Moment!

September 25, 2009Angela (Oh She Glows)

by Angela (Oh She Glows) on September 25, 2009

Ok, I am starting to worry now.

As you know, I didn’t run all week to give my legs a break. Well, today I hopped on the treadmill for an easy 2-3 slow miles and I was shocked to find that my legs are STILL tired and slightly sore/uncomfortable. What the heck!?

I ran about 0.4 miles and I decided to stop and walk slowly for about 16-17 minutes because I started to worry.

I really don’t understand why my legs are feeling this way, but this is kind of freaking me out considering that my half is just 1 day away. My guess is that I have come down with something because my muscles in my back have been really stiff for no reason too.

I ended up getting off the treadmill after 20 minutes of light walking.

I am not sure what to think. I guess I will just keep resting until Sunday and hope that this just passes and I feel refreshed come race day.

I hate feeling stressed right before a race. :( I really don’t want to go into this half marathon feeling like I’m not loosened up!

In other non-running aspects, I have been trying to help my body with healthy eats.

Including lots of Green Monsters!

They always make me GLOW!

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Knee Sleeve Rash Update:

The other day Eric says to me, ‘You know you should really get that rash checked out, it is getting worse.” This is coming from a guy who never goes to the doctor when he is feeling sick. But, he was right. I needed to make the time to visit my doctor to get it checked out. I am the type of person that tends to put off doctor visits until I absolutely have to go!

Before I go to the Dr’s office, I always Google my symptoms first so I am prepared.

This is what the Internet told me it could be:

Eczema

Ring Worm (NOT an actual worm, just a type of fungal infection)

Skin Cancer

Don’t you hate Googling things on the internet and you always get one really SCARY result? It makes me so paranoid! I had swollen glands under my arms once and I was convinced it was cancer. I was on edge for 3 days until I could see the doctor!

So anyways, I had my appointment this morning.

One quick look at it Doc said it is eczema!

Apparently my Knee Sleeves have caused the eczema and I now have these red, scaly, highly itchy circles about the size of a dime to a quarter around my knee sleeve zone. It has been driving me crazy the past 1-2 months.

Apparently this steroid cream that he gave me is supposed to clear it up in 10 days (3x daily application!!).

I would have loved to go the Project Natural Glow route with my treatment, but unfortunately the Coconut Oil did NOT help my condition. I was using it for a good two weeks with no relief. Sometimes a prescription is necessary. I can already tell that the cream is helping which is a good sign.

As soon as I get some time I am going to make an appointment with a Physical Therapist. I’d like to learn how to tape my knees and hopefully not have to wear the sleeves anymore. Or better yet, strengthen my leg muscles so I don’t have knee pain at all!

He also reminded me not to over-train. He was happy with me when I told him that I haven’t been running more than 3 days a week most weeks. He said that is the way to go because running is hard on the body as we all know.

Cotton Knee Sleeves:

By the way, I ordered some DONJOY all cotton knee sleeves and they arrived this week. I was sooooo disappointed with them though. They are not even close to supportive enough like my current knee sleeves. In fact, I can barely tell that they are on because they do NOTHING! I have to send these back and get my money back. Which totally sucks because I had to order these from the US and they were NOT cheap!

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I’m off to work on the online shopping cart for a bit. Friday night will be spent cuddled up with Sketchie, Eric, and some TLC’s Say Yes To The Dress. Addicted to that show!!

Tomorrow will be another segment of my grad school saga as well as showing you my pre-race eats, outfit, and race-kit stuff.

By the way, you can follow me during my half marathon LIVE on Sunday! Go to the homepage on Sunday and look for the link. My race bib number “5443”. :) Oh and Race Time = 7:30am EST. Anyone going to be awake?? haha.

good luck tomorrow. I am pretty sure you will be just fine! I recommend taking ibuprofen the night before the race and bring 8 hour tylenol with you the day of. That is what my marathon coach recommends and he has seen thousands across the finish line.

You rock, you are gorgeous, and you are helping girls everywhere get the glow.

What about wearing the cotton knee sleeves under your regular ones? I would assume that your regular ones are neoprene or something so maybe having a more natural material right up against your skin would help with the eczema?

Good luck tomorrow! I’m sure that once you get out there you’ll be feeling great!

I’m running my first half marathon tomorrow, and I can’t wait for your recap on sunday so I can see your experience. I was really hesitant last weekend if I could do it but going to the convention center today and picking up my packet and feeling all the energy from the runners I KNEW that I had to do this. I’ve been training since May and I’m thankful to have the legs and health to do this! Good luck on your race!

Go Angela!! I have a 5K tomorrow and have had a very stressful week, but going to try and drill some of the stress into my run tomorrow! You have treated yourself so well in the lead up to this – now it’s time to have some fun! :) Am excited to read your report as I am doing my first 1/2 in two months. You will kick butt!

Good luck on Sunday! I will be doing my very first sprint triathlon at the same time you are doing your race!! My worst fear this week has been getting sick or somehow injuring myself since I sometimes am the most graceful! So far so good..but I still have tomorrow!!
I look forward to reading about your race results!! I will be posting my race recap on my blog on Sunday night if anyone wants to check it out!

sometimes when my legs are really heavy i take a hot bath (epsom salt is awesome too) and then stretch a lot and use my foam roller… it helps! BUT also during taper my legs dont always feel the greatest… kind of part of the taper madness :) you are going to do great!!

I have been reading your blog for some time now and it’s part of my daily reads!!

I am the 5K race at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon this Sunday. I am so excited to “know” someone running the half. It’s my first race and I have only been running for 3.5 months and I’m so exited.

Good luck with everything for this race! It will be so much fun no matter what distance we’re running!

You really shouldn’t google your symptoms before you go to the doctors. It’ll just make you worry, and it’s annoying for the doctor too (My mum is a doctor, she has complained to me about it). Although I am kind of assuming that you didn’t go in and say “Oh I looked it up and the internet said it could be…”. I know it’s tempting, and it’s easy for me to say, because when anything goes wrong, I can call her and get her to tell me what she thinks it is, but still. I myself have googled symptoms in the past (I was coughing up blood, it was 3am and I didn’t want to wake my mum up!), and just ended up worrying that I was really really seriously ill and probably going to die, and therefore I wasn’t able to get the sleep that I needed to help to cure my chest infection, which I’m sure affected how long it took to get better. Nothing good comes of looking up symptoms on the internet!

Also, the skin cancer thing is crazy, because it’s obviously related to the knee sleeves, and I’m pretty sure that you can’t get cancer because of something rubbing against your skin.

I hope that the eczema clears up, and that you feel awesome for your half marathon!

The hay is in the barn, so to speak, looooooooooong before race day. This is just your brain playing tricks on you… if you don’t pay attention to it, I promise, it’ll go away. Get lots of sleep, drink lots of water, and ignore the bad thoughts!

Here is the analogy: You have a car that isn’t brand new. Its winter. And its well below freezing every day for weeks on end. If you start the car and drive it every day, chances are it’ll, well…actually START every day. If you let it sit for a week? It may start, but its gonna stall.

Simply put: when you are running every day or on most days…you’re using your muscles in the way they work when you run. You’re keeping them loose.

When you DON’T use them? They stiffen and its harder to get them moving.

You are a relatively new and inexperienced runner so this might sound weird, but in many ways you are far better doing even a very short run every day (or most days).

Also, eczema from a compression sleeve? Very normal; its because that area gets hotter than the rest of your body. Some people are more sensitive to it than others.

Enjoy the waterfront half. I ran the full last year and its a great course.

You’ll do great! I know I’m always scared that I’ll go into a race and after a few miles not be able to go any further..it hasn’t happened, but that doesn’t stop me from stressing about it!
Best of luck!!!!!

sometimes doctors are a good thing! i almost never go… and then last year i got a giant lump on my face out of nowhere! the doctor told me it was a blocked salivary gland (wayyyy better than any diagnoses i’d googled) and prescribed painkillers and… lemon drops!
i trust doctors who prescribe candy (the citrus helped make me salivate to force the gland to work, it really had a reason)
i hope your knees feel better soon!

Hey Ang, I know it sounds totally contradictory…but sometimes after not running for a few days my legs actually feel much worse. Once I get running again about a mile in they start to feel better. I would make sure you run just a bit before the race, as it should help…unless it’s actually truly painful.

Hi Ange,
I think that’s probably quite common? You’ve had a few heavy weeks with building up your training, and your body is probably also conscious of what’s coming and feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all. But, on the day, adrenalin should kick in and all your hard work in the lead up will carry you through! I hope you do start to feel better though…I’d find it stressful too I know.

Also, I just caught up on about a weeks worth of your posts (lol)…I love the evolutionary psych stuff about set point and why diets don’t work, and your musings on psychology in general and some of the downsides of academia. So very true. I especially disliked the divison between different areas when I was studying clin. psych. at a graduate level. Luckily I had a great supervisor and a PhD topic I was passionate about, which made a difference for me.

Lots of luck for the half tomorrow – I’m very aware of all the changes you’ve made over the past few years, and very proud and impressed of you getting to this point in health and fitness and everything else :) No matter how the race goes, the lead up to it is amazing in and of itself.

‘I am strong’ ‘I am capable of doing this’ ‘I feel no pain’ ‘I am a machine that is enjoying this run’ ‘The challenge is the prize, enjoy’ ‘I can and will endure whatever I have to because I am capable’ ‘This is amazing, because I have come so far’ ‘I am washed over with nothing but positive thoughts’

Let go of the worry and start replacing it with affirmations. visualise success.

I don’t mean to scare you but please listen to your body. I ran my first race 2 weeks ago and last Friday I popped my knee cap. I was diagnosed with patellofemoral syndrome about 2 years ago and continued running while using knee braces. Dr. just diagnosed me with trochanteric bursitis on both hips, he thinks this may have caused my knee problems (this is extremely common among women runners) About 2 to 3 weeks before my race I worked on my speed and that really messed me up. I felt really uncomfortable with my knees up until the day before the race. The day of the race I didn’t feel any pain whatsoever (due to excitement). But just 4 days after I turned and popped my knee cap. Right now I’m in a lot of pain and walking/sitting and laying seems too uncomfortable. I’m starting PT on Wednesday but my Dr. has recommended I stay away from running until I regain my strength.

You are totally going to rock this half marathon. I bet a lot of the discomfort you are feeling relates to your nerves. Whenever I am nervous I always psych myself out. Try to just take some deep breaths, maybe do some yoga/stretching tomorrow.

Like I said on Twitter, just make sure to get rest and stretch as much as possible, stay hydrated and fueled – and don’t let it get mental! I often find myself feeling “injured” a few days before a race because I’m really freaking out mentally. Might just be me though, I’m weird. ;-)

hey angela…. best of luck with the race!! i can honestly say now, if i can do it, anyone can do it! :) i’m sure you will be fine. look up “phantom taper pains” online, they say a lot of marathoners will have all sorts of phantom pains during their taper weeks, because they just don’t feel “right” when they aren’t running.

i know someone recommended bringing some pain killer with you to the race, but i hope you don’t take any before the race. it can mess with your blood, thin it out, and cause lots of problems, at least that’s what i’ve been told. better safe than sorry in my opinion, but do what you think is best. :) don’t worry, you will be fine!! chin up soldier!!! hehe

Good luck with your race! I hope that you have fun and enjoy the experience. I am so sorry to learn of the knee irritation from your knee sleeves, that sounds really uncomfortable. I hope the cream clears up the itchies quickly!

Oh my god, I used to yell at my roommate in college all the time because she would google her illnesses and they would always come back either 1) Cancer 2) AIDS 3) Endopic pregnancy. I was like you have a headache!! Stop with the googling! Really, it just stresses you out. I’m glad you went to the doctor though.

You will have an amazing race experience this weekend! Even if you crawl across the finish line on your hands and cotton knee sleeves, you will give it your very best effort because that’s who you are and what you do Angela! And that’s why we love you :)

Wishing you tons of luck on your run and here’s hoping that that darn rash clears up QUICK! As for the muscle soreness, don’t worry, I think your adrenaline will be pumping so hard that you probably won’t even notice on race day.

I used to get horrible rashes from my knee braces as well. I think mine was just a heat rash though because I only get it in the summer. My chiropractor actually recommended that I stop wearing knee braces to run because it puts extra pressure on the surrounding muscles, etc. and can cause other problems. I use a foam roller and although I still get knee pain after I run I’m usually able to run with no braces just fine (except in soccer, because of all the quick turns). I’d still like to look into taping, as well.

Anyway, I wouldn’t worry about your legs too much. I always get a bit of random stiffness the days before I race, I think it’s partly nerves or something, but come race day my legs usually feel just fine. You’ll be great!

good luck on your race!! have a few long hot baths the day before to help your muscles relax.
i was getting a rash under my sports bra that sounds like your, what i did was smear sportsglide over the rash before putting on my bra, it helped clear it up right away!

1) you just have pre race nerves. seriously. don’t stress, it’s normal. just take the new few days off from working out entirely (which you should be doing anyways because its a taper) and get a lot of sleep.

2) SUCKS about your knee sleeves. taping is great, its just kind of annoying to have to do it everytime.

3)i went to go to your website this AM and typed in: wwww.angela.com LOL

Aaah. eczema. I have it under my arms from deodorant. I can’t seem to find one that doesn’t irritate me! (I’ve tried a few natural ones – they quite literally burned my skin off!)

Anyways, the steroid cream does work wonders if you’re religious about applying it. And don’t worry about your stiff legs. Make sure you get a nice long warm-up in before the race on Sunday, and you’ll forget all about it when the gun goes off! :D

My legs were feeling really heavy when I went out to run last week. I told myself to just get through 3 miles, but by the time I got to 3, I was feeling great. Ended up running 13.1 that day! Sometimes it’s just getting past that initial threshold. You’ll do great. You’re ready!

Hey Angela – I’m no doctor by any means but may be the queen of eczema :( I used to get it horribly on my hands and NOTHING cleared it up – not even steroids. Amazingly I found this otc cream called Amlactin XL and it was pure magic – no joke. So if it doesn’t go away within the 10 days, try Amlactin XL (there are other Amlactin creams, but i dont think they work as well). good luck with the race (and the rash!!)

Just wanted to give my two cents about the steroids – I have had sensitive skin problems all my life and my doctors have prescribed many steroid creams and a couple times even steroid pills! They have advserse effects that I am now dealing with and I’m not sure if he told you that they do thin the skin. You might try a very mild OTC hydro-cortisone cream before the Rx. It is much less damaging and your skin won’t have to go through so much stress to heal.

Oh! And another thing I just thought of – many times when sweat and friction and constriction mix it equals a mild fungal infection (think diaper rash). So I just thought of something natural for you – ZINC OXIDE. It is mainly zinc and definitely cure diaper rash and anytime I get rashes from sweating too much from my sports bra – I totally use that and it works. Oh the joys of working out and sweating! :) :)

I also wanted to suggest asking about a Pattela Strap as an easier alternative to taping. I was fitted for them way back to wear during basketball as an alternative to my bulkier brace and I’m using them again now that I’m starting to run. They might not be for you but I thought I’d suggest them!

HI Angela,
I LOVE your website! I found it through one of my magazines. There was a piece about healthy eating and I liked your ideas so I logged onto your website. I actually do research on eating disorders and reading your blog was very enlightening and hopeful. Also, I am training for a half marathon and have NEVER run in my life! Your blog has inspired me so much and given me so many great ideas for training and eating healthy. I have already tried several of your recipes and tips for training. With that said, I was wondering what brand of knee sleeves you use. I am having some trouble with my knees and I remember you saying they helped so much. Thanks so much!
Tammy
P.S. Congrats on your interview today! I am in the US but I plan to download the interview!